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My ride, Genuine German built 91 Jetta. No “Hecho en Mexico” in this car.
-16v GTI H4 E-code headlights w/relay harness
-Euro tails, and side blinkys
-Factory fogs, now filled with water and useless no thanks to winter.
-GTI paint match mirrors, GLI spoiler
-G60 Corrado 15″ steel wheels, with THE LAST set of center caps VW headquarters had for good!
-Kumho Escta summer rubber
-16v / Mk3 VW 10.1″ Girling brake and steering knuckle swap
-Short shift kit built for Suzuki Samauri’s with VW diesel engines swapped in.
-G60 engine Dual down pipe upgrade and 2 & 1/4″ tubing.
-Cup kit lowering with VR6 strut bearings.
-Heavy sway bar and strut tower bar on front.
-Almost solid engine/trans mounts.
-84 Rabbit GTI seats – basicly a poor mans Reccaro.-nothing crazy done to the engine other than new ignition, water pump job, T belt, top end overhaul and a proper calibration job. But that’s not to say I didn’t pull a few tricks out of my sleeves. Couple other new bits here and there but nothing worth typing.
Not bad for a car that I paid $150 for, since the engine didn’t run properly. It was more work to bring the paint back than fixing the engine. Its no monster but its sure fun to drive around. Get it on the Sea to Sky highway and make sure you can left foot brake!
[URL=http://s32.photobucket.com/user/jshankland/media/IMG_0842_zps1dee628e.jpg.html][IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d32/jshankland/IMG_0842_zps1dee628e.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
-And yes, those mudflaps are cutting boards from Ikea.
Currently in the works:
-Building a new relay harness that looks factory, like it came that way from Wolfsburg.
-trying to find the “check engine” switch that California sold cars came with. Zero performance but added cool factor.
-Now that our AirCare laws are changing the exhaust system may loose some bits and pieces.
-Trying to decided between 3 engine/gear boxs combos to swap in. 2.0L ABA from a Mk3 OBD1 car, 2.0 L 2Y 16v from an old GTI or Passat, or 1.8T from a Mk4, with the 20V head from an Audi Quattro.
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Nice to see someone with similar taste 🙂 Looks very clean! Been busy busy with work. I usually only get online while eating breakfast…..at 5:30AM.
What engine you got packed under the hood?
Thanks man! It still has the stock engine, but it’s tuned so it has great response and drives almost like a race car. I’ve considered so many engine swaps, but it’s so reliable that I can’t bring myself to disrupt such a good thing I’ve had going for almost 15 years.
Take a look, and check the description for full info:
I was watching this video of the car in your avatar image earlier today too:
In the spring I’m going to try and properly capture video of a good downhill run, the kind that when you stop at the end your chest and head feel like you just finished having sex and smoke from the front brakes can be seen from inside the car. Man, it’s only been shelved for the winter for 6 weeks and I’m already jonesing for it.
I will agree the engine that came stock in our cars is a good one if tuned to spec, but for the headache in ‘race’ tuning it I’d rather just swap in something newer and better. I need a new ISV on mine. Its bypassing some air, leaning it out. Doesn’t have the pep it did. I could just turn up the fuel adjuster but Id rather it have a working ISV.
Watched your video!
That engine has some aftermarket goodies hanging off it…….. Whats the AFM, MAF set up? Doesnt look like DIgifant.[quote=”JS” post=123986]for the headache in ‘race’ tuning it I’d rather just swap in something newer and better.[/quote]
Absolutely correct. Fitting an aftermarket engine management system to that engine is a hell of a chore with having to add cam and crank trigger wheels and so forth. I have all kinds of engine swap ideas, but it’s tough to swap out the reliability. I don’t know if I’ll ever blow it up, but I’m kind of waiting for that to do a swap.
The airflow meter is from the 3.5L engine that came in early 90’s BMW 535 and 735 models. It’s a plug and play and has bosses for 3″ hose on the intake and exit side instead of being built into an airbox. It’s nice for making a “better” intake, but I’m not convinced it ever did anything useful. The little box on the side is a variable resistor I wired into the MAF signal wire to add resistance, but that doesn’t do anything useful either. Those parts were the last “mod” I tired on that car, gotta be 5 years ago now I did that.
Fopeano and JS: We are about to be new best friends..
Not sure how to bold on here but MY FIRST CAR WAS A 1986 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA DELUXE! I LOVED that car.
2nd car: 1986 BMW 325es!!!! – ETA engine! 2.7L! M-Technic package!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
… and Vin WVW on my Jetta too, so. No Mexican VW for me 😀
The real question is, How could you ever let them go?! Just kidding, man, I can fix anything, but sometimes things happen that are just not reasonable to deal with as cars age. I have a 89 325i sitting outside now that I daily drove for 5 years and is my favorite car ever, but It rusty and needs to be gutted to replace the vehicle wiring harness. I just don’t have the facility to fix it now or anytime soon, but I can’t let the car go.
The original Jetta was a mexiwagen and the floors were rotting out when I got it, but you’ll be happy to know I bought a WVW car with a perfect donor shell to replace the rusty Mexican one. I just gutted the German shell completely, and swapped every single part from the original car into it over a 3 day weekend. Afterwards, I cut up the junk Mexican shell with a Sawzall and took the pieces to the scrapyard with my friend’s pickup truck. That was July 4th weekend 2003.
The only way to keep things around a long time is to preserve them effectively, which is what I’ve done with my Jetta. No winter, salt, or rain, garaged with cover on in, put cover on it when I drive it to work to protect it from sun, pressure wash and dry underbody/suspension parts and WD-40 suspension parts every spring and fall, and even more ridiculous things than that.
Glad you had your good times with yours though, dude. So many drivers never even know what it’s like to drive a proper automobile. I drove my Jetta to work today, and it’s just great to drive. 2 more years and I can register it as an antique and run historical plates.
[quote=”Fopeano” post=138485]The real question is, How could you ever let them go?! Just kidding, man, I can fix anything, but sometimes things happen that are just not reasonable to deal with as cars age. I have a 89 325i sitting outside now that I daily drove for 5 years and is my favorite car ever, but It rusty and needs to be gutted to replace the vehicle wiring harness. I just don’t have the facility to fix it now or anytime soon, but I can’t let the car go.
The original Jetta was a mexiwagen and the floors were rotting out when I got it, but you’ll be happy to know I bought a WVW car with a perfect donor shell to replace the rusty Mexican one. I just gutted the German shell completely, and swapped every single part from the original car into it over a 3 day weekend. Afterwards, I cut up the junk Mexican shell with a Sawzall and took the pieces to the scrapyard with my friend’s pickup truck. That was July 4th weekend 2003.
The only way to keep things around a long time is to preserve them effectively, which is what I’ve done with my Jetta. No winter, salt, or rain, garaged with cover on in, put cover on it when I drive it to work to protect it from sun, pressure wash and dry underbody/suspension parts and WD-40 suspension parts every spring and fall, and even more ridiculous things than that.
Glad you had your good times with yours though, dude. So many drivers never even know what it’s like to drive a proper automobile. I drove my Jetta to work today, and it’s just great to drive. 2 more years and I can register it as an antique and run historical plates.[/quote]
Mine had the Wolfsburg castle on the side 🙂 and was in fact a “Deluxe.”
It got T-boned by the last year of “Chevrolet Caprice Classic” I think 1990.. Taxicab. Spun me around an intersection and it was going like 30 to 40MPH. The emblem of the Caprice was right in the B-pillar.. and THOUGH THE DOORS DENTED SHUT (obviously,) the GLASS DID NOT EVEN BREAK. (!!!) .. I jumped out the other side and drove the car for a week after that. Drove it out of the impound the same day…
My Uncles told me that “Frame damage” meant it HAD to get scrapped and they did it WITHOUT EVEN ASKING ME. … This happened ON THE DRIVER’S SIDE and MY PASSENGER TOLD ME THAT IF I WAS IN A HONDA CIVIC THAT THE CAR LIKELY WOULD HAVE RIPPED IN HALF OR AT LEAST I’D HAVE A PINCHED LEG.
The BMW just got regular old stolen in Irvington NJ.
This was in 2001 and 2003.. before Smartphones, Facebook.. so I really do have like ZERO pics of these cars. I have not been able to find even one. Even in old photos.
🙁
BMW VIN: WBAAB 5402G 9673364. So.. YES, ETA… YES, 1986.. YES, M-Technic. (My memory is that good since I can’t help but feel like my car got re-sold and someone has my ride.) <— Decode THAT.. Mr. Fopeano! 😀
Like I said.. VW Jetta 1ST CAR.. BMW E30 as SECOND CAR! :woohoo:
^^ Delphin Grey on that BIMMER, since "BEAMER" refers to the MOTORCYCLE BMWs in proper Bayerische Motoren Werke slang. 😉
And, Fopeano.. Why does yours look like either a Euro or a GLI? 🙂
But that grille, from a “3VW” MexiVolks .. I don’t like. The 86 had a finer grill.
Let me see if I can find a pic of a car LIKE mine.
Maybe the wide fender flares give it that look? That’s the only body/trim mod on the car, other than changing to the 7 bar grille you like 🙂 . The picture I put up is from 2005, but still a good representation of the car. Watch the video I posted earlier in this thread. It was shot last September and shows the car in it’s current state. It’s been 7 or 8 years since I last changed/modded the car, and I think the 7 bar grille was actually the last mod I did on it.
Here I’ll show you something really funny. This is me learning better car control back in 2003, after doing that shell swap I was talking about:
Terrible quality video for sure, but digital equipment was crappy and expensive back then. My friend that was filming actually had to “carry” that camera on his shoulder. Not like these little things you hold in your hand nowadays.
All nice cars and personally, I think that VW doesn’t necessarily deserve all the bad rap they get. I’m an ex-VW dealer tech along with multiple other import brands.
While someone is bashing VW for one problem they fail to take into account that Brand X, Y, or Z has their own issues going on. Sometimes those issues are the same as the VW.
Its been ages since I’ve checked out this thread. It is nice to feel the Jetta love from around the world! Before my current Jetta I had an 86 also. Just a base model with CIS injection. That engine leaked oil like nothing else but it was strong, and I love CIS injection systems over anything that says Digi on it.
Well since starting this post over a year ago not much has changed with my 91. With my apprenticeship / work, moving house, and working out of town now and then she has just been my very reliable commuter / work truck 🙂 That being said I have to watch how much stuff I put in the trunk and back seat or it rubs the fenders haha. This weekend I have the time to tackle an oil change and finally replace the Idle control valve that has basicly started to expire. Its giving me some lean conditions, crap idle and poor step off response. Its time has come. It would also be nice to give the old gal a wash and full detail but because of water restrictions, as well as the dust there i’snt much point.
For a while now I’ve been trying to score the parts needed to swap the front end to Westmorland set up. Super rare where I am and I like the look. Ill loose the extra high beam lighting from my 16v style lights but since the Westy lamps were a standard sealed beam size and I can buy Hella motorized HID lamps that fit right in. They’re also legal where I am witch is nice. It will also cut down some of the wiring birds nest required to have 4 head lights all relayed off the battery.
No matter what though I took the car for a good fun rip last night after sitting almost 2 weeks to blow the cob webs out, still drives like a bat out of hell.
Keep the VW love coming guys, there is never enough.
As I stated previously, I’m an ex-VW tech who has worked for 5 dealers (3 were multi-line) and even for myself some years. The range of cars covered VW, SAAB, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda, Fiat, and the random domestics. I never saw the VWs have any more problems than anyone else and of all of those brands mentioned you know the one I preferred the most from a mechanic standpoint? Subaru. It’s because they were maintenance and repair intensive which means a fatter paycheck…..
There’s also that “Farvergnugen” thing that VW came out with and I’ve always felt there was truth to it. The Jettas have a “drivers feel” to them that many other cars do not. I feel the same way about Harley motorcycles. I own and have owned HDS along with Triumphs, BMWs, and have ridden a number of Hondas, Kawasakis, and Ducatis. The HD has “Fahvergnugen” also; that feel that’s hard to explain to those who don’t get it.
Several ace mechanics I worked with over the years (and one of them the best Euro tech I’ve ever known in my life along with being a “mechanic’s mechanic”) swore by the Jettas as being the best car on the road. The only reason he did not own one was because he ran across several great deals on the Audi 5000 Death Machines and bought them on the cheap for his wife and himself after nervous owners wanted out of them. He said there was no issues with those cars; only clumsy drivers who were too ashamed to admit they stomped the wrong pedal or they were so panic stricken they did not know they did.
I almost bought one of those death machine’s on the uber cheap but when I went to have a look at it the body needed way too much work for my interest.
I will probably die before I get rid of my Mk2 Jetta. I often wonder if I should look at a newer car, perhaps a wagon and then realize that its reliable, fairly cheap to run (depending how much 91 octane is that day), and doesn’t have any payments needed.
I will get a newer engine into it at some point, who knows when.
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